A Pretty Hilarious Disaster
by herworship429
Summary: All the other agents she knew wound up sitting alone at bars on their nights off, staring into the bottom of their glasses with the same expression of absentminded malcontent, and maybe she just wanted to know what it was that the Hawk went home to that made him so happy. (Guest-starring Hawkeye. So AoU spoilers)


Here I go, venturing into a brand new category. Usual disclaimers... none of these characters belong to me, I'm just taking them for a spin. This is pre-AoS drabble about how Bobbi might have run into Hawkeye in days past (in a very-much MCU canon-compliant way). Hunter is referenced, but not actually present (woefully, because Hunter is the best. The BEST.). The stuff in parenthesis is Barton.

Incidentally, if you haven't seen Age of Ultron yet, STOP, press the back button and go see it right now, because a) it's awesome, and b) you will be spoiled if you read this first. But if you're still here...

* * *

Bobbi Morse had heard all the stories. Only the really legendary agents got codenames, after all, and Hawkeye and the Black Widow were among the most legendary of her generation. She prided herself on keeping her cool no matter what she faced, but damned if she wasn't just a little bit excited about the prospect of working with one of them, even if it was only a one-off mission, and a dozen other agents had also been assigned. Besides, she had always enjoyed Japan.

She'd run into Natasha Romanoff before, but never had the pleasure of meeting Clint Barton, who had swaggered onto the Quinjet with a crooked grin, shaking hands and introducing himself to the tactical team in the back. He finally reached the cockpit and swung into the seat next to Bobbi, hooking his bow and quiver over a lever behind him for safekeeping.

"You must be Agent Barton," she'd said without looking at him, her eyes on the controls and readouts in front of her.

"And you must be Agent… Morse, right?"

"That's me," she confirmed.

"Woman of few words, huh?" there was a smile in his voice. Bobbi didn't need to look at him to know it was on his face too. A big, dopey grin, probably. Maybe his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. Maybe it was a little lopsided, and he always cocked his head to one side, and his accent always made it sound like he was asking a question-

She blinked furiously. No. There was no way in hell she was going to start breaking down and crying in front of an agent so legendary he'd gotten a codename, not over her idiot ex-husband.

"Yeah, woman of few words," Barton went on, almost to himself. Bobbi risked a glance his way, to see if he'd noticed. She saw no sign of it. She wouldn't let herself breathe an audible sigh of relief.

 _(Except of course he'd noticed.)_

* * *

She ran into Barton a handful of times over the next couple of years. Often they were running air-support, though she'd once been sent as back-up to one of Romanoff's infamous deep-cover intelligence missions, the ones where they'd earned their codenames _and_ bad-ass reputations.

No extractions. She and Barton were the only back-up, and there was no one waiting with a small army of agents to save them if something went wrong. It had scared her a little, to be honest. But she'd pulled her weight, risking entry with Barton and facing what had seemed, at the time, like an army. It was really only a dozen or so guys, but they were well-trained and dangerous.

She was good, it turned out, at distracting the enemy, drawing their attention and keeping them from pinning Barton down before he had a chance to get a shot off. She'd resorted to name-calling and mocking jokes, sarcastic one-liners that had them angry and off-kilter, and in the end, she and Barton made easy work of them.

"I have to say, I enjoyed your tactics," he'd told her later with a grin, "Annoy the enemy to death. Good strategy."

"Well, it always worked on my ex-husband," she'd quipped offhandedly. Her voice was flat, and she didn't start crying, but she had sucked in a quick breath that betrayed her.

Barton had the grace not to acknowledge it. Instead he smiled his crooked smile again.

"It saved my ass, I'll take it," he studied her for a long moment, and then added, "So thanks, Mockingbird."

She didn't realize until about a week later that the name had stuck, and she had become a bit of a legend herself.

 _(But he'd made sure of it, because she deserved a bad-ass reputation too. Besides, he hated letting a good nickname go to waste.)_

* * *

A few months later, she ran into him on his way off-base. It was a strange sight to see, Agent Barton on his day off. He was more comfortable in civilian clothes, she noted absently. Something about his posture was more relaxed and he looked like he was trying not to unleash a hundred-watt smile at everyone he passed, because frankly that would have been kind of weird. A bag was slung over his shoulder instead of his bow and quiver, and he looked… happy.

She didn't know why she followed him to the gate. She didn't know why she made sure he noticed her and stopped to say hello. Maybe it was because of that barely-contained smile, and the aura of joy that he couldn't quite hide. All the other agents she knew wound up sitting alone at bars on their nights off, staring into the bottom of their glasses with the same expression of absentminded malcontent, and maybe she just wanted to know what it was that the Hawk went home to that made him so damned happy.

"Hot date?" she asked, jokingly.

"Well, if you call hospital food and a cranky four year old a date…" he complained of this as if nothing in the world could have made him happier, "My wife's in labor."

"Oh," Bobbi was honestly shocked. He was _married_? With a kid? And another one about to make their grand entrance to planet Earth? She realized with a jolt that she had just thought exactly what Lance would have said out loud.

"Yeah, I know," he shrugged, "I don't spread that around, for obvious reasons."

"Then why tell _me_?" she asked. He stared at her, a measuring look in his eyes, for a full minute before he spoke.

"Maybe I trust you. Maybe you let something slip once and I'm just returning the favor."

She must've looked confused, even as the horrifying realization that he probably _had_ noticed her nearly start crying on the Quinjet on that mission in Japan dawned on her. But there was nothing but sympathy and quiet curiosity in his eyes.

"What happened, Bobbi? With your ex?"

She couldn't hide it then, the flash of pain that brought tears welling to her eyes. She looked away, unsure of what to say. But then he had just entrusted her with his most precious secret. Maybe she owed him the same.

"He was… well, to be honest, he was a mark, when we first met. He had information. I did what I had to do to get that information."

"Fooled around and fell in love, huh?" he quipped with a sad smile.

"Yeah, something like that," she shrugged and returned the smile, "He made me laugh. He made me feel like I was more than just Agent Morse of SHIELD. Like I could be a real person, too."

"I know the feeling."

"And then… I don't know. He wears his heart on his sleeve. Always has, just who he is. It's what I liked about him. But I don't know how to do that. And in the end, I had to choose. SHIELD or him."

"And you chose SHIELD."

"Yeah," she wiped at her eyes with one hand, "I figured it was for the best. We were always a pretty hilarious disaster, anyway."

"Maybe," Barton shrugged, "But sometimes it works when it shouldn't. Sometimes that pretty hilarious disaster turns out to be something pretty amazing."

"And sometimes it's too late," she countered.

"Nah, I don't believe that," he shook his head and grinned, "It's never too late for _that_."

Bobbi couldn't help but laugh a little, even as she took the chance to change the subject, "Boy or girl?"

"Girl," he answered, and then the hundred-watt grin could not be contained anymore, and for just an instant, Bobbi Morse was insanely, irrationally jealous. Not of his wife, or of his family; she'd never really wanted kids, and neither had Lance. Kids were messy and sticky and complicated; he had always been sure he'd make a terrible father, and she was certain she would make an even worse mother, and seeing as her brother had proved more than up to the task of providing their mother with the grandchildren she was desperate to dote upon, her family had never really pressed her about it.

No, she was jealous because he had found a way to be something more than just Agent Barton of SHIELD. He had a life outside of his work that made his face light up like the sun itself, and even though she had her family, and adored her brother's kids, and even though she would always be in love with her idiot ex-husband from afar, she was quietly afraid she would never again be able to feel like she was more than Agent Morse of SHIELD.

"Well, you better get your ass to the hospital," Bobbi said finally, "Wouldn't want her to beat you there."

He laughed and headed for the gate, waving at her with his back turned as he disappeared into a waiting car.

 _(He didn't say it, but he really hopes Bobbi and her ex get a second chance. Because he and Laura were once a pretty hilarious disaster too.)_

* * *

Reviews are nice, if you are so inclined.


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